Instrumental Music as
Worship Forbidden By the Law of Moses

Music Worship - Instruments Forbidden By the Law of
Moses? Yes! While there are isolated instances of Psalmists singing
and playing with musical instruments, many of these instruments were
not allowed in the temple. Therefore, instruments were used for
personal praise or to signal animal sacrifices connected with
purification or dedication ceremonies; not for congregational
worship.

When the congregation of Israel
assembled for instruction, musical praise with instruments was
forbidden by the Law of Moses. God gave this law as the result of
their rising up to play at Mount Sinai as they worshipped the golden
calf with singing, dancing naked and playing musical instruments.
Speaking of the hymn after crossing the Red Sea, Smith's Bible
Dictionary says that:

"The triumphal hymn
of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it; but the
employment of music in religious services, though idolatrous, is more
distinctly marked in the festivities which attended the erection of
the golden calf." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

It happened this way:

Israel worshiped idols which
included the musical worship of various Egyptian deities (Eze 20:7).
They were told to "throw away" the old abominations. They had a
history which said that the gods lived in
the musical instruments. When you played, you seduced the demons into
speaking to you through "lifeless instruments."

Israel refused to repent and
worship Yahweh. As a result, they were insulting the name of Yahweh
Therefore, His first impulse was to destroy them totally in Egypt.
There was nothing in the people worth saving (Eze 20:8).

Only to protect His Name, God
brought them out into the wilderness to keep the Egyptians from
making fun of Him. This was a covenant of grace.

God first gave Moses the ten
words or commandments. After swearing to keep the oral (written on
the heart) form of the Book of the Covenant--a renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant--the
Israelites, perhaps under the influence of the mixed multitude
escaping from Egypt with them, grew impatient for Moses to come down
from Mount Sinai with the written code of about 70 laws. These laws
were good and could be kept. They put the ten commandments into
practical forms. That is, they were enabling legislation. (Eze 20:11)

Sacrifice was conditional. A
covenant relationship said: "If you sacrifice you must do it this
way." However, after rejecting the covenant by worshiping as they had
in Egypt, the Law said: "You must sacrifice."

The Israelites worshiped as
their Egyptian captors worshiped because they needed some legalistic
sign from their "gods." Abandoning Jehovah, they asked Aaron, their
priest, to permit them to repeat the Apis or calf worship which is
defined as play. Even though there was no law, Moses recognized two
roles for music: warfare and idolatry

Moses, the prophet,
said that it was not a sign of war or a sign of victory, but "it is
singing that I hear." This involved singing, dancing,
instrumental music and more. Aaron made them a golden calf as
visible image and claimed that the image just "jumped out of the
fire."

This profaned God, his
commandments and the Sabbath (Eze 20:13). Jewish authorities claim
that they never played musical instruments on the seventh-day
sabbath. Even to tune the strings would be the work of human merit
and would pollute the sabbath. Pollute includes the following:

Chalal
(h2490) khaw-lal'... is figurative of: to profane a person, place or
thing, to break one's word, ... denom. (from 2485) to play the flute:
eat as common things, gather the grape thereof, take inheritance,
pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self),
prostitute, slay, sorrow, stain, wound.

It is important to remember
that music was added only after Isreal "fired" Yehweh as their "King"
and demanded a king like the nations so that they could worship like
the nations.

David added instrumental music
but it was in connection with the new temple-state or secular temple
with the loss of God's rule. David never engaged the 'congregation'
in singing with instrumental accompaniment.

The "music" or really a great
crashing sound was for animal sacrifices in or around Jerusalem and
in connection with animal sacrifices. These events were not true
congregational worship but for dedication or purification of
buildings or civil and clergy personnel.

The people in the area "fell on
their face" when the officials were involved with sacrifices but they
were incidental spectators at best.

The Sabbath day was a day of
true worship because it abandoned all human appetites and spent the
day thinking about or worshipping God. They did not have musical
rituals on the Sabbath and even if they did the "congregation" could
not attend the one location of the musicians:

"Playing on musical instruments is
prohibited on Sabbaths and holy days, and even to engage a non-Jew to play for Jews on
Sabbath is considered a 'shebut' or disturbance of the Sabbath rest."
Second, "music, except at marriage ceremonies,
is generally prohibited, in token of mourning for the destruction of
Jerusalem." (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, p. 432, quoted by Kurfees,
Instrumental Music).

"It is still banned
by rigid adherents to old ways; but in ordinary conservative
congregations it is unhesitatingly employed at weddings and other services on week days" (Isadore Singer, Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 134).

Again God's judgment would be
to pour out His wrath in the wilderness. Again, to protect His name
God would no longer "personally" go with Israel as part of The Book
of the Covenant of grace. Because when they sinned His personal
Holiness would cause Him to destroy the entire nation. However, He
would send His presence which is Himself or the "Rock" in another
form. When the time came, He would carry out His sentence of
dispersion and death.

An idol (human or
materialistic) of sight or sound is important to people who have no
faith and need to see, hear or feel the nearness of their gods. Music
was the most common tool or weapon to force the people into the
presence of their pagan gods.

By ignoring the abiding
presence of Jehovah, they followed a pagan pattern: they mocked the
old God in order to appease the new god of Egypt and to seduce him
into their presence again. This is the eternal theme of seeing God as
lover so that you can know Him personally, which is to say, sexually.

Because of this sin, God gave
them the Book of the
Law which had 613 laws
and, according to the prophets, was not good. The ten words are never
repeated in the same form and the laws were to preserve Israel in a
purely physical sense as they went into Canan:

I also gave them
over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;
Eze.20:25

Therefore, the record of the
law period is for our learning but not for our pattern. In Romans
four, Paul explained that living by the faith of Abraham and not by
the law was what made people acceptable to God. In Genesis 26:5, this
"faith" meant keeping God's commandments out of love rather than
fear. Many Psalms are a poetic history of the various periods and are
objective truth. However, true Israelite history is not always
suitable for legalistic liturgy.

At the moment of their sin,
Israel was sentenced to captivity and destruction because they would
not repent and turn back to the Covenant of grace. The new law with
all of its rules was given by God to preserve physical life as Israel
moved into and under the influence of Canaanite Baalism where there
was no spiritual life. History show that the primary purpose of the
law was to prevent the
clergy from mortally wounding the common people who found God out on the farms and
pastures. These pagan-like shepherds would "eat the lambs for lunch"
and trample all of the fresh water (of the Word) so that the sheep
could not even drink it. God said: "You offer the sacrifice to me but
you eat the meat." We might say: "You offer the music to me but you
enjoy it for yourselves."

Israel would immediately go to
the high places where the prophesying professionals sang, danced,
played musical instruments and engaged in fertility rituals. The
signs during Saul's confirmation are proof that God was already
carrying out His death sentence. This included sacrificing their
children at Topheth where they played the tabrets and other musical
instruments to drown out the scream of burning children and "bring
the priest of Molech into the presence of his god

In the New Testament, we
understand that Law
rituals were for the
ceremonial purification of the outward body but had no effect upon the
soul.

This means that there would
have been no "Law of Moses" if Israel had not rejected God's direct
rule as their king, friend and father. This rejection of God would
happen in its fatal form when Israel again rejected Him and demanded
a king like the nations so that they could worship like the nations.
God warned that the kings would destroy the nation.

To prove it, He gave them a
sign that they had fatally mocked Him. He sent the professional,
musical prophets from the high places and then destroyed their wheat
crop. The musical prophets as merchants of the fertility rituals
could bring you into the presence of the gods and force Him to give
you a good harvest. Therefore, this sign proved that Jehovah gave
fertility and could remove it. They could, in turn, asked their idols
to give them food to keep from starving. But they had no food (Amos
8).

I will be thy
king: where is any
other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom
thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? Hosea 13:10

I gave thee a
king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. Hosea
13:11

What Happened at Mount Sinai
to Destroy the Whole Nation

When the Israelites grew
impatient with God they rejected Him and mocked Him because they
wanted instant results. They denied the miracle of the Red Sea and
other signs that the True God of all creation was personally guiding
and carrying for them:

AND when the people
saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people
gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make
us gods (elohim), which shall go before us; for as for this Moses,
the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what
is become of him. Ex.32:1

And they rose up
early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and
rose up to
play. Exo 32:6

It was the collective assembly
of the Congregation of Israel accompanied by the musical worship of
Egypt which doomed them. It was a sign that they would not wait
quietly for God to whisper His written covenant message of grace "in
a voiced silence." To prevent this from happening at any future
"congregational assembly" God gave them a new law. David would repeat
this "play" as a "congregational" effort to move the ark with music.
This failed and the second move was centered around the king,
priests, military leaders and the "city officials." In paganism,
ceremonial processions with music was always an effort to "relocate"
their gods to make them more useful.

Amos said that they thought
they had their god in a little tabernacle or ark-like chest by which
they carried him even as He led them! Later, David believed that he
was bringing God to Jerusalem when he and the whole congregation rose
up to play with singing, dancing naked and playing instruments.

Paul warned the Romans and
Corinthians about this "rising up to play." This was singing with
instrumental music and more:

"The
triumphal hymn of
Moses had
unquestionably a religious character about it; but the employment of
music in religious
services,
though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked
in the festivities which attended the erection of the golden calf."
(Smith's Bible Dictionary, Music, p. 589).

"Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people
sat down to eat and drink and rose up to dance (play)'" (1 Cor.
10:7).

Paul also concemned this in
Romans 10 when he defined the Egyptian "sending across the sea" to
get a better spokesman than God. Therefore, he warns us not to try to
"ascend" or "descend" speaking of these "rising up to play"
rituals.

This was mocking Jehovah God as
they rejected Him and worshiped Apis. Elsewhere we see that this was
seduction, the theme of all ancient worship with music:

And she spake unto
him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou
hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock
me: Ge.39:17

The word
"played" is used of David to show that this word means that they
played the instruments:

And David and all
the house of Israel played
before the Lord on
allmanner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on
psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 2 Sam
6:5

As Samson
was ready to be sacrificed the pagans wanted him to dance in the same way the Jewish clergy would try to get
Jesus to sing and dance. The word for "play" in Exodus and David's
musical dance are interchangeable:

And it came to
pass, when their hearts were merry,
that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport
(7832) . And they called for Samson out of
the prison house; and he made
them sport
(6711) : and they set him between the pillars. Judges 16:25

Therefore, the play at Mount
Sinai and the Play of Samson and the Play of David were equivalent.
Rising up to play is symbolic of literal or spiritual death. The
movie pictures poor blind Samson "dancing" as he is pricked with
swords sand spears, spat upon and slapped. This was a true prophetic
picture of John the Baptist as a result of song and dance.

And it came to pass as they
came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with
tabrets, with joy,
and with instruments of
musick. 1 Samuel 18:6

And the women
answered (responsive singing) one another as they played(h7832), and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David
his ten thousands. 1 Samuel 18:7

And Saul was "ground into a
fine powder"

And Saul was very
wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten
thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can
he have more but the kingdom? 1 Samuel 18:8

Playing music in an external
sense in Greek:

Psallo psal'-lo; prob. strengthened from
psao , (to rub or
touch the surface; comp.
5597); to
twitch or
twang, i.e. to play on
a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and
accompanying odes): - make melody, sing (psalms)

Psocho
(g5597) pso'-kho; prol. from the same base as 5567; to
triturate, i.e. (by anal.) to rub out
(kernels from husks with the fingers or hand): - rub.

This is also related to
Jesus "grinding Judas" to bits by his sign:

Psomion
(g5596) pso-mee'-on; dim. from a der. of the base of 5597; a crumb or
morsel (as if rubbed off), i.e. a mouthful: - sop.

I say, to produce this effect,
chants appear to have been invented,
which really
enchant, and are designed to implant that harmony of which we speak.
........ And, because the mind of the child is incapable of enduring serious training, ........ ........
they are called
plays and songs,
and are performed in play;
........ just as when men are sick and ailing in their
bodies,

their attendants
give them wholesome diet
in pleasant meats and drinks, but unwholesome diet in disagreeable
things,........ in order that they may learn, as they
ought, to like the
one, and to
dislike the
other.

And similarly the
true
legislator will
persuade, and, if he
cannot persuade,

will
compel the poet to
express, as he ought,
by fair and noble
words, in his
rhythms, the figures, and in his melodies, the
music of temperate and brave and in every way good men.

Based upon the meaning of the
word "play" and other examples, their mocking always included musical
instruments. In their minds they could honor another god with music
only by mocking or insulting the True God Who did not respond to
their immediate wants. The musical mocking which caused Israel to
fail as they worshiped Apis who was merged with Osiris and is
explained in ancient literature. This clearly involved musical
instruments.

The Egyptians, and now the
Hebrews, were using musical instruments to create such excitement
that people believed that foreign gods were leading them. Therefore,
when God gave the two silver trumpets He wrote an explicit law which
rejected musical instruments as tools for calling the gods. He
excluded them from assembly for listening to Him.

Because musical worship was so
tempting, God directed them to make two silver trumpets primarily to
signal marches or war. Remember that Moses recognized three uses of
instrumental music and loud singing: the panic of defeat, the joy of
military victory and what he called "singing" which he recognized as
idolatry.

Their music was to create great
excitement or panic but had no value in getting a message from the
True God as trumpets and drums had been with the pagan gods. Even
when they were added to temple rituals they were used along with
David's instruments to signal the beginning and ending of the animal
sacrifice. The "congregation" did not worship in the temple with
instruments. To prove it, God heard from heaven and not from the
musicians and priests in the darkened temple as Solomon dedicated it
to Him.

God told Moses that
instruments were to disperse the people:

When ye blow an
alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. Nu
10:5

When ye blow an
alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side
shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their
journeys. Numbers 10:6

What if the Jubilee "vocal"
Trumpet Quartet choose that moment to "praise the Lord?"

When Moses called Israel
together for instructions from God, they could use the trumpets much
like a church bell. That is, the two loud trumpets could be heard for
miles and the people would gather at one place. More probable, as in
the later song, just the leaders or elders gathered, heard the
message and returned to their tribes to tell them what God wanted
them to know. No preacher wants the choir singing while he preaches.
Much less does God want music when He is trying to speak through His
Word.

Therefore, they could not turn
this assembly into a "praise the Lord" pagan ritual. This would tell
God that they didn't care about hearing from Him. For instance, you
wish to warn your friend that a tornado is coming. He comes at your
signal but plays his trumpet and dances while you speak. He has
insulted you by saying that you have nothing important to say to him.
He has to suffer the natural results of insulting you and remaining
ignorant.

The shofar or ram's horn was
also used. However, it was not a musical instrument and later Jews
outlawed adding holes to change the pitch.

"In addition to the
sacred trumpets of the Temple, whose use was restricted, even in war and in battle, to the priests, there were others used by the Hebrew generals.

Ehud sounded the
trumpet to assemble Israel against the Moabites, whose king, Eglon,
he had slain (Judg. 3:17-30).

Gideon took a trumpet in his
hand, and gave each of his followers one, when he assaulted the Midianites (7:2, 16).

Joab sounded the trumpet as a
signal of retreat
to his soldiers, in the battle against Abner (II Sa. 2:28), in that
against Absalom 18:16), and in the pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri
(20:22)." (Book, Hist. Digest., p. 321).

"the trumpets were assigned a
number of complicated signals, which implied their ability of blowing legato,
staccato, and trills, and tonguing, all in unison, not
'simultaneously,' but 'as with one mouth.'

Moreover, these
apocalyptical trumpets bear different names: trumpets of assembly, of
battle, of the slain, of ambush,
etc. In generaly, they were used to terrorize the enemy into panic
(Judges 7:19-20). This function was, for all practical purposes,
identical with that of the trumpets of Revelation. In the temple the signals of the trumpet introduced
every ceremony and every sacrifice." (Interpreters Dictionary of the
Bible, p. 472-3, Abingdon).

"All the various usages of the
shophar (Ram's horn trumpet) can be viewed under one category: that
of a signaling
instrument.

It sounded all
signals in war and
peace; it announced the new moon, the
beginning of the sabbath, the death of a notable; it warned of
approaching danger; it heraled excommunication; it was
instrumental in
exorcisms and
magic
healing." (Interpreters
Dictionary of the Bible, p. 473, Abingdon).

Music was usually associated with the king who
was the agent of the "gods." Rituals with music were the kings
rituals even while the common people might witness the
ceremony:

"Wind instruments
in primitive cultures also serve nonreligious functions. In New
Guinea, bamboo
trumpets were once
played ........ to frighten an enemy during battle and ........ to alert a village that the victorious
warriors were coming
home with the corpses
of the foes.

Conch-shell trumpets are used for signaling in the
Pacific coastal regions of Columbia and in the Ecuadoran highlands.

"Trumpets also may be associated with the
office of king or
chief, as in West Africa, where their use is strictly controlled by tribal law. "wind instrument" Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

There is no way that the common people could
perform the musical worship for the civil state.

Musical Praise Not
Permitted

The people of Israel did not
gather to make animal sacrifices in the wandering years in the
wilderness. Later, when Amos condemned Israel for turning to music
and ignoring the Word of God, he equated it to the musical play in
the wilderness.

From several passages in the
Bible, we understand that people were gathered into God's presence
when He had some message to give to them.

AND Moses gathered
all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said
unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye
should do them. Ex.35:1

Their worship was in honoring
God by silently listening to the message through Moses. Therefore,
God warned Moses:

But when the
congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an
alarm (blow the trumpets). Nu 10:7

Modern medicine understands
that musical worship teams or instrumental music or just loud vocal
singing splits the ears, alarms the rational part of the brain and
shuts it down so that we listen only with our emotion. This loud
sound literally breaks down the walls of our mind. Therefore, God
condemned and outlawed it as worship.

The alarm or mental aggitation
God outlawed is from the Hebrew word:

Ruwa
(h7321) roo-ah'; a prim. root; to mar especially by breaking;
figuratively: to split the ears with sound, i. e. shout for alarm or joy: - blow an alarm, make a joyful noise, smart, shout for joy, sound an alarm, triumph.

The final rejection of God was
in demanding that they be given a king like the nations so that they
could win battles and worship like the nations. God warned them that
they would not get away with it and the kings would destroy the
nation.

The use of this triumph music
during the period of the kings who replaced the Theocratic rule of
Yahweh will be covered in a separate section. For now, it is
important to jump ahead to see how this word for triumph is fully
explained by the attempt of Judas and the Jewish clergy to triumph
over Jesus. Using the same word, Psalm 41 prophesied that Judas would
not triumph (ruwa) over Jesus as a magical method of the enchanters.
Jesus directly connected this to instrumental music as an attack upon
Him.

This triumph of the Jewish
clergy was repeating exactly what happened when their ancestors
rejected God by rejecting Moses. Stephen told the clergy that they
had failed to hear Moses but they would hear Jesus:

This is that Moses,
which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye
hear. Ac 7:37

This is
he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and
with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: Ac
7:38 (Christ's words
were Spirit and Life, John 6:63, and Jesus Christ was the Rock which
followed them)

To whom our fathers
would not obey, but
thrust him from them,
and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Ac 7:39

Saying unto Aaron, Make us
gods (theos) to go before us: for as for
this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him. Ac 7:40

And they made a
calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced (make merry) in the works of their own
hands. Ac 7:41

Making merry
is described as a secular activity:Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came
and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick (concert of musical harmony) and
dancing. Lu 15:25

God rejoices when we repent
like a human father when his wayward son comes home. However, God is
pure or Holy Spirit. He does not get hungry and, He said, that if He
did He would not tell us about it. He doesn't need to be entertained
with musical instrument. If He did, He can call a ten-thousand
angelic band to His rescue.

When we come together to honor
Christ but rejoice in the talent or works of our own hands we engage
in a legalistic attempt to worship. The result is that we "thrust God
from us."

There is no song, sermon or
mechanical device made by human effort which has any legal merit in
worshiping God. Any use of these tools is a legalistic attempt to
find the invisible God through external means. Joel promised that
even young, innocent girls would "prophesy" as a sign of God's double
purpose at Pentecost: to pour out His spirit or mental disposition on
those who would speak it to the whole world; and to pour out His
baptism of fire to burn up the chaff. This was very similar to the
prophesying boys (really "girls") singing and playing as a sign of
judgment upon Saul.

As Israel rejected God as king
and demanded a human king, the signs were musical prophesying by the
effeminate young "prophets" from the pagan high places and the
destruction of the wheat crop. In the ultimate fulfillment by Jesus
Christ, the signs would be to try to triumph over Him by the use of
instruments of music. The other sign was that He would "burn up"
their harvest to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Using the same word for triumph
condemned by Moses, Psalm 41 prophesied that Judas would not triumph
(ruwa) over Jesus. This was part of their "witchcraft

All that hate me
whisper together against me: against me do they
devise my hurt (affliction). Psa 41:7

Judas would try to triumph over
Jesus after "Satan came into him." Jesus called the clergy Pharisees
and Sadducees a "brood of vipers" or serpents. They would try to
enchant Jesus and triumph over Him with their little flutes. This is
the same as the serpent's hissing to Eve in the Garden of
Eden:

These words are directly
connected to the brass musical instruments which "whispered and
muttered" to give the fortune teller or prophetess a message from the
"dust" or underworld and helped the old men dream a message from the
gods. The tempters were Chaldeans or Babylonians who tried to defeat
God's influence through musical prophesying or bringing you into the
presence of the gods. They were the visible manifestations and agents
of the invisible Satan.

It is a little-known mystery,
therefore, that the Judas bag (he was a thief) was for "carrying the
mouthpieces of wind instruments." Judas would be classed along with
the clergy who "piped" for Jesus to frighten or panic Him into rising
up like a warrior to go into battle against the Romans. Or they would
force Him to dance the Dionysos, choral dance which would mark Him as
effeminate. Science now knows that music creates the "fight or
flight" syndrome and both have a sexual relationship. It didn't work
of Jesus. This Judas bag is from the Greek:

Glosokomon (g1101) gloce-sok'-om-on; from 1100 (speaking in
tongues) and the base of 2889; prop. a case to keep mouthpieces of
wind-instruments in, i.e. (by extens.) a casket or (spec.) purse: -
bag.

This is related to speaking in
tongues and "of the world" which is from:

The next verse shows that
friend-turned-enemy Judas will not triumph over Jesus even as Satan
used him as his change agent:

By this I know that
thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. Psa
41:11

This is the same effort to
panic or triumph over others with a great noise of joy:

Ruwa
(h7321) roo-ah'; a prim. root; to mar especially by breaking;
figuratively: to split the ears with sound, i. e. shout for alarm or
joy: - blow an alarm, make a joyful noise, smart, shout for joy,
sound an alarm, triumph.

We remember Jephthah's daughter
who joined the musical rejoicing team intended to gratify the
warriors returning in triumph over the enemy. She may have been a
human sacrifice because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We also remember the women musicians gratifying the soldiers. By
praising David, they mocked their king, Saul. From that moment, Saul
eyed David, feared him and attemped to murder him as he played his
own little harp.

We can say,
therefore, that God gave Moses a law which prevented the horn blowers
and musical rejoicers from triumphing over God when He was trying to
speak to the congregation of Israel. In modern terms, they mocked Him
by honoring another god, a singer or a speaker.

We can say that this practice
was never used in congregational worship without the Word being
ignored and the people going into captivity (Amos 5-6; Isa 5; Eze 33)

We can say that it was
prophesied that Judas would try to triumph over Jesus.

We can say that Judas collected
money in a bag for carrying mouthpieces of wind instruments.

We can say that they tried to
triumph over Jesus to force him to dance the Dionysus, choral dance
when they piped or blew their wind instruments. This woman's dance
would mean that they triumphed over God and mocked or polluted Him so
that they could continue to sell sick sheep for sacrifices and short
change the worshipers believing that the priests brought them into
the presence of God.

They could not force Jesus to
"join their fellowship" by singing and dancing. As a result they
tortured Him. In Hebrew 11:35 and Fourth Maccabees the torture
device, like a wheel or X was to stretch the person on a drum
frame-the tyre typanum. The bones were pulled out of joint (Psa
22:14) and they beat Him with a rod which is defined as the
baton.

Male prostitutes or dogs
surrounded Him and yelped at Him. In afflicting Him they "sang, shouted and sang responsively" (Psa
22:24).

However, God was not listening
to the mocking music but heard the quiet prayer of Jesus. Like the
literal first temple dedication, as the priests and musician made a
great noise, the temple was turned into darkness so the priests could
not minister. However, the people (represented by Jesus) were
"outside the gates" as they offered their prayers and God heard from
heaven. The sign was complete.

In a spiritual sense, Jesus
"triumphed over" Judas as He gave him the sop. The sop is a crumb
which results from:

Psocho
(g5597) pso'-kho; prol. from the same base as 5567; to triturate,
i.e. (by anal.) to rub out (kernels from husks with the fingers or
hand): - rub.

The word from which this
grinding to bits comes is the word translated melody in the external
or instrumental music sense:

Psallo
(g5567) psal'-lo; prob. strengthened from psao, (to rub or touch the surface; comp. 5597); to twitch or
twang, i.e. to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine
worship with music and accompanying odes): - make melody, sing

Melody and all musical terms in
the Old and New Testament are from roots which mean to triumph over
others to take their inheritance or pollute them. This is why Paul
demanded that the "melody" be in our minds so that the Words of
Christ "break our hearts."

Trying to triumph over people
in an external way with music guarantees that there will be darkness
as Christ is literally mocked as the musical worship teams ignore His
Words and His commands through Paul that women should not exercise
their pecularly musical (sexual) authority when he wants us to listen
to Him. They, too, will go into spiritual captivity.

They killed Jesus, in part,
because He said:

They are like unto
children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and
saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have
mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Lu.7:32

According to Paul, trying to
worship God with a mechanical device is an attempt to "speak unknown
tongues" or to worship God unconsciously in the same sense that we
just breathe without thinking about it. However, this can happen even
without an instrument.

By singing and speaking to God
while He was trying to speak to the congregation and the unbelievers,
they were trying to triumph over God because they believed their
silly songs and sermons were superior to His Word.

The word "piped" is connected
to a word which means "to breathe unconsciously." Therefore, Paul
warned that lifeless instruments do not have the ability to speak to
us. If the musician gets a magical message such as a tongue to speak
or sing, Paul warned that it comes out of the person's own spirit
(1Cor 14:2) and not from God as they tried to speak to Him rather
than listen to Him. However, He said that they were just "speaking
into the air" (1Cor 14:9). Paul said that:

Even in the case of
lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will
anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction
in the notes? 1Co.14:7

This means that the instrument
is dead and lifeless and cannot worship, instruct or edify the
congregation. That is why God outlawed instruments when the
congregation assembled.

The word "weapon" and
"instrument" come from the same Hebrew and Greek words. The
equivalent word in Hebrew speaks of musical instruments along with
swords. The equivalent word in Greek is translated as weapon but it
is clear that Paul is speaking of battle with words to convince
others.

The weapons of carnal warfare
were lifeless musical instruments used as weapons to pollute or
abrade the people into subjection. However, the Words of Christ
"spoken to one another" are His weapons while the literal weapons of
rejoicing are outlawed during the assembly:

For the
weapons (instruments) of our warfare are not
carnal (lifeless), but mighty through God to
the pulling down of strong holds 2Co.10:4

Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2Co
10:5

Suppose that Satan comes to our
church to do battle against the Word of God. He gives everyone good
reasons for believing that He and not God should be worshipped. He
exhalts himself above the Word of God. You whip out your little flute
and get the girl-team grinding away with "praise songs" and you do
battle with Satan's arguments. You have used your carnal instruments
as weapons to fight. As a result, you have rejected God's words just
as Israel did at Mount Sinai as they rose up to play to triumph over
God and honor a bull. In the end, Satan triumphs and you loose.
Therefore, Paul's instrument or weapon was his mouth as the sword of
the Spirit delivering the Words of Christ. His singing or praise was
the "fruit of the lips."

They Treated Jesus Like a
Dancing Girl

The only other person called
upon to do this choral dance was Herodias. It pleased Herod and made
his "mind sail away" with lust. His rational mind was bypassed and he
permitted Herodias to murder John the Baptist. John's "head" was
literally separated from his lifeless body and could never speak the
Word of Christ again. Satan triumphed over John with musical
rejoicing. They would try to triumph over Jesus using the same music
and effeminate dance but it would not work on God Who had His head
well attached to His shoulders.

In the prophecy of Judas and
Jesus, the conclusion is that:

All they that be
fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall
bow before
him: and none can keep
alive his own soul. Ps.22:29

All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.
Is.14:11

Only a "seed" would continue to
worship Messiah. They would not "sing" to the nations with
instrauments but they would declare Christ's righteousness to the
world:

They shall come,
and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born,
that he hath done this. Psa 22:31

Nagad (h5046) naw-gad'; a prim. root; prop.
to front, i. e. stand boldly out opposite; by impl. (causat.), to
manifest; fig. to announce always by word of mouth to one
present..

This means that you cannot
declare Christ's righteousness with a harp or piano. We praise our
friend by telling others about them. We do not praise them by
singing, dancing and playing instruments while telling others how
great old Joe is but really saying: "watch me, listen to me." We
triumph over old Joe by praising ourselves as the motive behind all
idolatry. This is the meaning of halal
as a common Hebrew word for praise.

The temple has been destroyed
for the third and final time. Worship is in "spirit and in truth."
That is, worship is mental with a devotion to the Words of Christ.
The church has become God's Holy Temple.

In whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord: Ep.2:21

And Habakkuk warned:

Woe unto him that
saith to the wood, Awake;
to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and
there is no breath at all in the midst of it. Hab 2:19

But the Lord is in
his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Hab.2:20

David lived under the Law of
Moses given to discipline a people doomed to pagan idolatry. He never
felt confident and thought that God might take His spirit or life
from him as he had Saul for disobedience. Therefore, he expressed the
lostness of those living under a law of punishment and judgment. If
we understand him literally, we can understand what Habakkuk
condemned:

It is more likely that this is
figurative language of "singing to the Gentiles."

Earlier, we noted that the
pagans believed that Satan and his demons came into musical
instruments. Therefore, the sounds of air and string were sold for
money to be the voice of the "gods" giving the paying worshiper a
message about a wife, a cow or a lost goat. God is here. We "live,
move and have our being in Him." Therefore, He does not have to be
aroused and called into His temple. Nor do we need professional,
clergy musicians to "lead us into the presence of God."